Springety Spring, Spring!

Well, there is no escaping it now! Spring is here, and the plants are growing. This has truly been an odd year, as the snow melted and the temps climbed up almost immediately. I have been rushing to pull the winter protection (a 6-10 inches blanket of leaves and twigs) off my beds so the bulbs could grow. The longer I leave the protective layer on, the harder it becomes to remove later without damaging what is growing beneath. Look how these tulips just pushed themselves right through the barrier.

Once the barrier is removed the parts of the tulip that were not getting an sun are yellowish; two days have passed now and they are all solid red. Here is the mis-colored bulb:
Beneath the surface I've found blooms on primrose.

This spotted deadnettle also had little purple flowers on it.
I was stunned to find this Wallflower (Bowles Mauve) had not only survived winter, but was pushing out blooms already. All my research told me this guy was shortlived, and not hardy. Surprise!

The sedum 'Angelina' is glowing already!

The soil has been quiet soft and workable, so in the new sunny front yard we've errected my newest arbor, and I planted sweet peas on the base for now. I will be putting flower beds on boths sides for dahlias, roses, and clematis, among others things.

I hope to have some blooms, soon. I can also hardly wait to start dividing and moving a few things. Happy Gardening!

Look! The clematis I grew from seed and repotted a few weeks ago is growing! I see 3 shoots coming up on this one, and the other two are coming along as well.

This is my basement garden. lol. My first year using grow lights instead of putting all my plants in sunny windows. You can imagine how cluttered my house used to be during the winter months!





The red banana plant loved the basement the most.

These plants will be upstairs in just a few weeks, maybe by the end of April, early May.

Happy gardening!

Pink in the Garden

Through reading "A Gardener's Pallete: Creating Color in the Garden," I have learned that pink is shade of red, and not exactly it's own color in the rainbow. Nevertheless, it a color that warrants its own post on my garden blog.

Rhoededondron "Rosy Lights"


Clematis 'Pink Champagne' is one of the first things to bloom in the my garden each spring.

The first rose of each spring is this 'Morden Centennial'.

Painted Daisy w/ Iris

Dark lipstick pink painted daisy.

Pink speckled foxglove grown from seed.

'Morden Centennial' rose in full bloom creating a wall of bubble gum pink .

You can tell from the sheer number of pictures that this rose is one of my favorites.

Despite the mauve and creamy white tones, the pink is what makes 'Distant Drums' rose a beauty to me.

David Austin rose in the clearest pink, 'Mary.'

Lily 'lolipop' would be boring without its tips dipped in candy pink.

'Double Delight' rose has been a favorite since I was growing up in my grandma's garden.

Rose 'Electron's' bright pink blooms stun.

David Austin's romantic 'Brother Cadfael' rose.

Climbing rose, 'Pearly Gates' hints at blush pink.

'Kordes Perfecta's' giant blooms.

A sea of the flowers called pinks, grown from seeds years ago.

Rose, 'Vanilla Perfume' is the prettiest blush pink in the garden.

This young climber 'John Davis' looks great with the chartruese leaves and plum flowers of 'sandrine' geranium.

Lily 'algarve' glows a neat pink in the garden .

Another pink lily... sensing a pattern. lol.

The bees & butterflies love this pink wildflower, milk weed.

I love fragrant stock, and grow it each season. This pink was so pretty, with it's lime green centers. I love taking these into the house and making whole bouquet of each color.

This unknown pink rose was a lucky find last spring!

Clematis 'Piilu' has a nice purplish pink center.

This is an antique rose a woman in northern wisconsin gave me. This spring, it looks set to give me tons of these adorable pink button-eyed blooms.

Lily, 'Pink Perfection.'

The classic lily 'Stargazer.'

Clematis, 'Ville de Lyon.'

Rose 'Kordes Perfecta.'

These random petunias pop up from seeds each year.

A favorite pink on the garden is Coreopsis 'Sweet Dreams.'

Dahlia 'Kogana Fubuki' is great sunset hued dahlia.

Persicaria's spiky pink blooms go well with my roses.

Pink coneflower is a favorite pink in the garden.

Zinnia's always surprise me with numerous pink shades.

Clematis 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' is such a wonderful pink, I can't wait until it matures and brings me dozens of blooms. I paired it with 'Avante Garde,' a small flowered red and white clematis.

The fairy rose show multiple tones of pink in each cluster.

'Peace' rose has the flirtiest swatches of pink. Such a spectacular sight.

Dark pink monarda attracts the hummingbirds.

Pink impatiens fill baskets on the front porch.

'Rosella' dahlia's pink blooms glow against the dark red blooms of 'Arabian Night.'

Another stunning pink lily.

I have long been in love with the pink centers of 'Eden' rose.

I'm actually touching bees sleeping on this pink 'rosella' dahlia. The bees are asleep!

Cosmos also draw in the bees.

Fuschia impatiens skirt the spotted dead nettle and rhoededondron.

Cleome's airy pink blooms are a great pink, too.

Salvia Virdis pink leaves look like flowers. Had fun growing these from seed last year.

Caladium add so much flavor to this shadier area of the deck.

Spring time apple blossoms are some of the earliest pink in the garden.

And the most beautiful pink the early spring garden is bleeding heart!

Hope you enjoyed all my pinks! This post took me a few days!

Happy gardening!